Having committed in 2018 to make all of its packaging recyclable, compostable, or reusable by 2025, Amcor Flexibles has launched a line of polyethylene films—including both barrier and non-barrier—for flexible film packaging that has been pre-qualified for the How2Recycle Store Drop-Off label. “Today, a majority of our products are already designed to be recyclable, and our R&D teams are working in a globally coordinated fashion to push the limits even further,” explains Fabio Peyer, Sustainability Director at Amcor Flexibles. “By taking a platform approach, like we have for AmPrima™, we are now able to offer a recycle-ready alternative for a number of applications and formats that are currently served by multi-material laminates.”
The AmPrima portfolio was introduced in summer 2020 and is being featured in Ampac’s PACK EXPO Connects Showroom. Says Peyer, AmPrima brings together under one brand all solutions and technologies that are compatible with the PE film recycling stream. “It is the culmination of many years of development work spearheaded by the Amcor global core R&D team,” he adds.
The portfolio includes AmPrima PE and AmPrima PE Plus, both of which are available in ultra-clear and heat-resistant versions. As Amcor Flexibles Sr. R&D Fellow Otacilio Berbert explains, AmcorPrima PE is the company’s standard offer of non-oriented PE-based films, featuring both laminations and surface-printed coextruded options. The products under AmPrima PE are designed for applications with straightforward technical requirements, including pouches and bags, and vertical form/fill/seal or horizontal form/fill/seal applications.
The AmPrima PE Plus portfolio involves laminations with oriented recyclable films, designed for applications that require superior stiffness, shelf appeal, optical properties, and heat resistance. “All versions of AmPrima are available in barrier or non-barrier options, and AmPrima PE Plus was uniquely designed to match non-recyclable laminations in critical applications that require high packaging speeds, for example, flow wraps, or that demand heat stability when sealing attachments like spouts to the film,” Berbert explains. “It is also designed to survive typically abusive sealing processes, like sealing lidding to trays and cups, without seal distortion.”
According to Amcor, AmPrima employs a variety of technologies including proprietary techniques unavailable elsewhere. “Amcor has creatively leveraged several technologies into the AmPrima portfolio,” Berbert says. “On the converting process side, those technologies include multilayer and multi-material film orientation, annealing, extrusion die design, and others. On the materials side, we have leveraged compatibilization technologies, barrier coatings and additives, and blends of high-performance polymers, among others. The result is a complete portfolio of products that allows Amcor to offer recycle-ready solutions with no compromise on performance.”
In late September, the AmPrima portfolio received pre-qualification to carry How2Recycle’s Store Drop-Off label, subject to conditions like product application and final package design. According to Peyer, a brand owner using the material still needs to submit their package to How2Recycle for approval, but their submission will be fast-tracked, due to the pre-approval Amcor was secured by working with The Association of Plastic Recyclers and How2Recycle. “All brand owners need to do is to attach the pre-qualification letter to their submission,” he says. “This translates into lower costs, increased speed to market, and less risks in the development phase.”
To view demos from Amcor Flexibles (available through March 31, 2021) and to add the company to your MyConnects Planner, click here.
